Help/did you vs have you

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Help/did you vs have you
Message from saifali posted on 02-03-2013 at 20:40:27 (D | E | F)
Hello,

Could you help me please?
did you meet him or have you met him
which one is correct?
Thank you for your answers.

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Edited by lucile83 on 02-03-2013 21:02

Re: Help/did you vs have you from lucile83, posted on 02-03-2013 at 22:12:37 (D | E)
Hello,

It depends on the context.
did you meet him ...needs a date
have you met him ...doesn't need a date
Can you give some more context?
Regards.

Re: Help/did you vs have you from djohrahocine, posted on 02-03-2013 at 22:27:38 (D | E)
Hello!

Did you meet him?=Past simple tense, but when we use this tense, time must be specified(the action is completed and finished in the past)
We d'better say did you meet him (yesterday/ last week/this morning...)?
Have you met him?=present perfect(here time is not specified)
I recommend you to review the past simple and the present perfect in order to use them correctely.
Best regards.

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Edited by lucile83 on 02-03-2013 22:33

Re: Help/did you vs have you from gerondif, posted on 02-03-2013 at 22:52:22 (D | E)
Hello,

Both are correct, depending on what you want to say:

a)"Brad Pitt was in town yesterday!"
b) "Oh really ? Did you meet him ?"

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past.
When did you meet him? I met him yesterday, last week, two years ago.

The present perfect is a tense used to point at the present consequences of something that happened in the past but the present consequences come first:

I have repaired the car (it doesn't matter when I repaired it, what matters is that you can use it NOW)

a)"Have you ever met the President ?"
b)"Yes, I have often met him!!" You boast about it NOW!!
b) "No, I have never met him !!" You regret it NOW!

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